Napa Valley winery reviews, tasting notes, recommendations, and photos, now also included in Google's Field Trip application. Periodic reviews of interesting wines from around the world. Occasional musings about classical music as related to wine. Bach to Bacchus is partners with Google Field Trip.

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Boeschen Vineyards

Boeschen Vineyards is an enchanting little winery, with pleasant, charming owners, wonderful wine, one of the loveliest wine caves I've seen, and a garden that you would usually only see in magazines. Advance appointments are, however, essential.

Boeschen Vineyards is in the St. Helena District in Napa County just off
Silverado Trail. It was founded in 1999,
and for several years they sold their grapes to other wineries. Their
underground, wine cave was completed in 2006 and houses the entire winery. The gardens at Boeschen date back to 1890 and Susan Boeschen has done much to restore the gardens to what they might have been like
back then. Outside the cave Boeschen Vineyards
seems more like a botanical garden than a winery with all of the diverse plants
they have and the winery itself being totally in a wine cave. Boeschen is very much a family winery, and
Doug Boeschen conducts tours and is also the primary wine maker. The Boeschen
family runs the business, performs all of the cellar work, and is actively
involved in the vineyard.

Entry sign

The estate has a long and very interesting history, the
primary house having been built in 1890 with a Russian princess living there as
the rumored mistress of a famous industrialist.
It was also a prune and walnut orchard, a camellia nursery and a Christmas tree farm.

Entry gate

At Boeschen Vineyards, great emphasis is put on sustainable
farming. Only organic fertilizers are used. They do not till the vineyard because of the potential for
erosion. A major problem with voles and
gophers was solved by putting up owl boxes. They do everything they can to
protect the ecosystem and were the ninth vineyard in Napa to receive the Fish
Friendly Farming certificate from the Napa County Ag Commissioner, the Regional
Water Quality Control Board and the National Marine Fisheries Service.

Rose arbor

They do not source any fruit from other vineyards and do not
have vineyards in other locations. All
of their wines come from the grapes they grow on their six and a half acres and amounts to about 600 cases
per year total. Although they grow mostly Cabernet Sauvignon, they also grow Bordeaux blend varietals they
use in the Carrera Estate Blend and Estate Cabernet Sauvignon plus the grapes
for their Sauvignon Blanc.

Large rose bush in bloom

In addition to the beautiful gardens and lovely wine caves
which you will see during the tour, you will also have the pleasure of Doug
Boeschen's charming company as he personally conducts the informal tour through
this Shagri-La of a vineyard and will have the good fortune of tasting one or
more of their wines in their tasting room on the upper level of the wine cave.

Double rose arbors

Prior to our visit, which, of course, is by reservation
only, I read everything I could find about Boeschen Vineyards on the
Internet. They produce an Estate
Cabernet Sauvignon Blanc, a Cabernet Sauvignon
blend called the Carrera Estate Blend , an Estate Sauvignon Blanc and a
Merlot based Rose called Katie Rose. None of these are available at restaurants
or stores and often sell out completely to members of the Boeschen Vineyards
wine club. Usually there are no wines available for purchase to the general
public even when visiting the winery.
Given such demand, I was surprised that any wine at all was available
for tasting. Secretly I kept hoping that
if we did taste some it might be the Estate Cab or Sauvignon Blanc.

Tasting room in wine cave

The wine we were able to sample was the Boeschen 2009 Carrera Estate
Blend at $70, which is 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 44% Petit Verdot with the remainder
being other Bordeaux blend
varietals. It sees about 60% French
oak. This is not one of those big, bold,
tannic Napa Cabs that you will need
to cellar away for a dozen years or more, nor is it the very ripe, fruit
intense, highly extracted Napa Cab that Robert Parker seems to have made popular. The Carrera starts out with a fantastic
cherry aroma that is a total delight to the senses. On the palate it is medium bodied with bright
cherry and well integrated tannins and acid.
It is rather smooth and what is often referred to as "elegant"
(an over used term.) The finish is long
and refreshingly clean. I really enjoyed
it. Unfortunately we could not buy a
bottle.

English style hedges & roses

All of their wines were sold out, and we would not have been
able to taste anything if Doug hadn't put aside some of the Carrera just for
visitors to taste. We did get to hear a
tantalizing story of how their Sauvignon Blanc came in first in a tasting, but we were not able to taste or purchase it. Obviously Boeschen Vineyards does not need any
more marketing or publicity, and it is extremely generous of the Boeschen family
to put any wine aside for visitors to taste when there is such a high demand for it.

Unpainted end of wine cave

If you decide to visit this little Garden of Eden, you might
want to do so in the early spring when their ancient Lady Banks rose is in
bloom. It seems to branch forever into
the huge trees next to it. Or you might
want to visit later when all of the climbing roses draped over arches are in
bloom. Or you could go for the fall
colors. Our visit was magical and
delightful and I'd love to return with my wife when the roses are in bloom. Perhaps I'll even be fortunate enough to be
able to taste their Sauvignon Blanc.

2 comments:

I'm not sure that I've heard of Boeschen--thanks for putting it on my radar. It looks like a beautiful place to visit. Kudos to a small production winery producing wine that's in high demand for hosting tasters!

We will be visiting more small production family wineries. It is such a different experience from visiting larger wineries. Meeting directly with owners and winemakers is a very special experience, much different than meeting with hired hosts, however pleasant. Small is beautiful!